Jim Hamilton explains that to understand the New Testament’s use of the Old Testament, Christians must grasp biblical typology—patterns intentionally placed in Scripture by the human authors under the Spirit’s guidance. He begins with 1 Peter 3, where Peter says that baptism corresponds to the flood. This is not arbitrary; the New Testament cannot contradict the Old Testament, because the same Spirit inspired both. Instead, Peter is recognizing a pattern built into Scripture itself.

Hamilton argues that the flood, the Red Sea crossing, and Christ’s death all function as escalating expressions of God’s wrath symbolized by water. Jesus himself refers to His death as a “baptism” (Mark 10), showing He will enter the floodwaters of divine judgment. To demonstrate that Moses intended these connections, Hamilton walks through Exodus 15, showing repeated vocabulary, duplicated lines, chiastic structure, and thematic parallels to Genesis 6–9. Moses shapes the Red Sea narrative in conscious continuity with the flood and with earlier deliverances in Genesis.

These patterns continue through the Psalms and Prophets, building anticipation for a new exodus, ultimately fulfilled in Christ’s death and resurrection. Baptism unites believers to Christ in this fulfillment. Revelation 15 confirms the continuity: the redeemed sing both the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb, because the same salvation story reaches its climax in Jesus.